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fonzbear2000
Premium Member
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN
·Verizon Wireless

fonzbear2000

Premium Member

[XPHome] NTLDR file missing

I was having some malware problems and then as I was getting help for those, when I went to restart my computer, it said "NTLDR is missing-press control alt delete to reboot". A member named TheJoker was helping me in the security cleanup section with this very problem, but everything he suggested so far hasn't helped. Here is the link so you can see what has happened so far: »HJT log-DVD drive quit working and comp is slow when online Scroll down to where I talk about NTLDR and PLEASE READ EVERYTHING so if you are able to help me, you don't repeat something TheJoker has already suggested because like I said, nothing he suggested has worked so far. Thanks for your time!
ChiTang
MVM
join:2002-08-23
Alhambra, CA

ChiTang

MVM

The thread in security forum is too long to read.

Lets start from square one.

Boot with XPHOME CD into recovery console, issue a CHKDSK. Reboot, if PC boots PC. Problem solved. Ignore to rest of my post.

Boot with XPHOME CD into recovery console (AGIAN), issue a DIR for directory listing and post the screen output and we will go from there.

fonzbear2000
Premium Member
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN
·Verizon Wireless

fonzbear2000

Premium Member

said by ChiTang:

The thread in security forum is too long to read.

Lets start from square one.

Boot with XPHOME CD into recovery console, issue a CHKDSK. Reboot, if PC boots PC. Problem solved. Ignore to rest of my post.

Boot with XPHOME CD into recovery console (AGIAN), issue a DIR for directory listing and post the screen output and we will go from there.
If you had taken to time to read the thread that you say is too long, you would have seen that the laptop didn't come with an XPHOME disc. It came with 6 recovery discs and they don't have anything called recovery console.

DOStradamus
MVM
join:2003-11-04
Santa Rosa, CA

DOStradamus to fonzbear2000

MVM

to fonzbear2000
IMH(but learned)O,
Mcafee
Bit Defender
Trend Micro House Call
Super Anti Spyware
Smitfraudfix
combofix
vundofix
fixwareout
are often just as bad as the things that they profess to "cure".

Especially when a "turdpile" (my term) of Anti-ware from different vendors is active, and performs overlapping functions.

OTOH, Windows Defender, available as a free download from Microsoft, is earning some tough-to-get-for-that-genre respect.

FACT: The only way that a virus could even possibly cause the "NTLDR is missing" message, would be for it to be a boot sector virus. This is because the Volume Boot Record (first sector of your boot partition), is where the code that loads NTLDR is located.

Here's what happens on an XP box, at boot time:
=====================================================
1. Bios runs its Power On Self Test, making sure all the hardware it has decided it has is functioning.

2. For each drive it is told to attempt to boot from, it looks (1) for media, (2) to see if that media has a valid Boot Sector, when it finds a valid boot sector, it:

2b. Loads that massive 512-byte chunk o'code into memory, and says to it: "Your turn!"

3. The boot sector code, uses 16-bit BIOS calls to locate, and then load the bootloader code, NTLDR, in your case. It then tells NTLDR: "Your turn!"

4. NTLDR's first objective is to load the 32(/64)-bit disk drivers for the hardware that controls the system drive, as telling XP it has to use 16-bit code for disk access would be like the IRS telling you that you can't use a calculator or computer while you're writing that yearly "love letter".

4z. At this point, BIOS APIs, or even what it thought your drives were, is a moot point -- XP's file services are completely independant of that, except when impossible.
=====================================================

While wading through the bovine parts of the other thread, I might have missed whether you have a floppy drive on that box... if you do, try this. It will narrow down things enormously:

1. format a floppy on another computer, one that runs XP,2K, or 2k3 Server.

2. copy NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM (from that computer) to the floppy. Copy BOOT.INI from the sick machine to that same floppy.

3. Tell BIOS to boot "Floppy First", and do so...

Results will be interesting. I guarantee it,

-NK

fonzbear2000
Premium Member
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN
·Verizon Wireless

2 edits

fonzbear2000

Premium Member

The laptop has a floppy drive, but it doesn't work. It's dead. I read all the other stuff you wrote, but it's too much techno babble so I have NO idea what you're talking about. I did however burn the NTLDR and NTDETECT files do a CD and change the boot order to boot from the CD rom first and nothing happened so it probably wouldn't work even if I did have a working floppy drive.

Anyway, if someone has time to read more from the other thread so you don't repeat unneeded or unusable advice, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

DOStradamus
MVM
join:2003-11-04
Santa Rosa, CA

DOStradamus

MVM

There was quite a bit of bovine by-product there, so I apologose if I missed an essential part.

In short: "FILE NOT FOUND" MEANS "FILE NOT FOUND".

fonzbear2000
Premium Member
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN
·Verizon Wireless

fonzbear2000

Premium Member

said by DOStradamus:

There was quite a bit of bovine by-product there, so I apologose if I missed an essential part.

In short: "FILE NOT FOUND" MEANS "FILE NOT FOUND".
Well, that's pointless since it really doesn't help solve my problem, but whatever.

Again, if someone has time to read more from the other thread so you don't repeat unneeded or unusable advice, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

mb6
join:2000-07-23
Washington, NJ

2 edits

mb6

Member

You came here looking for help and came up with some obviously capable and willing to provide it. I'd suggest answering their questions, even if you find it tedious and/or repetitive. Don't forget you are the one looking for something.

sheilakmcd
Birdbrain On Computer
Premium Member
join:2002-02-20
Liberty, KY

1 recommendation

sheilakmcd to fonzbear2000

Premium Member

to fonzbear2000
This is probably not what you want to hear but this is what I would do. Your security thread was started Feb 7th. So your computer has been down 21 days. If it was mine, I would use one of these, and be back up and running in a few hours.

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 12163001

I have one of these and it is my best friend when fixing unbootable computers.

Take the hard drive out of the laptop, use this to hook it to a another computer, copy off all the data you don't want to loose: documents,pics, music, etc. into a new folder. Download and save a copy of avg free installer into the same folder. Burn this folder to a cd. Be aware that you cannot move programs but you can reinstall those from discs or downloads.

Put the hard drive back in the laptop, use your recovery discs to do a complete new install. Uninstall all the crap that hp put on there that you don't need, such as mcafee, norton, and trial versions of various softwares, that run at start up, hog resources, causes conflicts, and generally screw up your machine.

Install avgfree from the cd. Make sure the firewall is on, and go online to windows update and do the security updates. Copy your files from the cd back to the laptop.

Reinstall your needed programs from their discs, redownload and install the ones you want from the web.

Your done.
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

2 edits

dave to fonzbear2000

Premium Member

to fonzbear2000
Sometimes 'file not found' errors happen at boot up because the disk is flaky. The file is 'there' but the boot code can't read it.

Now, we're dealing with a computer in which the DVD drive is dead, the floppy doesn't work, and now we're getting problems reading files from the hard disk.

Could it possibly be the case that the hard disk subsystem has gone to hang out with its buddies on the scrap heap?

I concur with sheilakmcd See Profile - the correct approach at this point is to use another computer to save what you can save (you don't have backups, right?), and then it's time to raze and rebuild.

Mickeyme3
You might be right, but, I don't care
Premium Member
join:2008-09-05
Carson City, NV

2 edits

1 recommendation

Mickeyme3 to fonzbear2000

Premium Member

to fonzbear2000
Other forum to long for me to read also, it's not just the security forum stuff it's all the links included that need to be read.

»support.microsoft.com/kb/320397

or you can knock yourself out and surf through these links,

»www.google.com/search?so ··· +missing
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

1 recommendation

dave

Premium Member

Wow, who'da thunk of that? Good find.

N10Cities
Premium Member
join:2002-05-07
0000000
Asus RT-AC87

4 edits

N10Cities to fonzbear2000

Premium Member

to fonzbear2000
I concur with Dave & Sheilakmcd.....copy the files from the drive to another location using the device mentioned (I have that item as well and it is awesome), do a complete OS reinstall, then copy the files back. Be alot easier (and alot less time consuming) than trying to stitch together the OS piece by piece. Plus by reinstalling the OS (reformatting it before the reinstall), you will definitely have a clean machine with no malware to start with......

If doing those steps are beyond your skill level, then take the laptop to your local competent computer shop for repair...

If you still get the missing NTLDR message after attempting rebuild, you have a problem with the hard drive.
Expand your moderator at work

billh491
join:2001-08-09
Portland, CT

1 recommendation

billh491 to fonzbear2000

Member

to fonzbear2000

Re: [XPHome] NTLDR file missing

It would seem to me that if some advice offered here is too much techno babble for you then the fix that a person that does not understand techno babble needs to do is run those restore disks that came with your computer and return your compter to the way it was the day you took it home.

Or pay some one to fix it for you.

yuutomo
The Wonder Kitter
Premium Member
join:2001-08-27
Seeley Lake, MT

yuutomo to fonzbear2000

Premium Member

to fonzbear2000
if the laptop has a floppy which is dead, it's time to replace the ancient machine with something more up to date.

hortnut
Huh?
join:2005-09-25
PDX Metro

hortnut to fonzbear2000

Member

to fonzbear2000
I once had a user that was misusing his XP box and not following procedure.

He thought that he was a hotshot, but his computer was full of Malware of all kinds that were affecting his machine and the network.

Due to his position and mine, it was a Political Landmine for me to just take his machine and fix it. So I "broke" it.

so I went in and renamed NTLDR to NTLDR.old. Then he got the error you are getting.

I then used a "live" version of a Linux Distro, renamed the file, got rid of the malware, backed up all of his important files and then reimaged his HDD with company approved software.

Windows can be a bitch when it breaks and it can be a lot of hard work to fix it! You will need to read all the techno babble or Reinstall Windows from scratch.

BTW - My so-called computer savvy kids are always sneaking into bad things on the net, and I have done this many times to them.

martg
join:2005-11-19
South UK

martg to fonzbear2000

Member

to fonzbear2000
I used fixntldr.exe the last time I had trouble with that file. I could get the computer working after a while to carry out the instructions though. I think you'd need to make a boot floppy or CD in a working computer. If you can do that, this fix might work for you too.

»www.tinyempire.com/notes ··· sing.htm

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena to fonzbear2000

Premium Member

to fonzbear2000
Solution:

1) Buy a IDE-to-miniIDE (2.5") converter.
2) Get the harddrive out of the laptop, hook it up to a PC with converter mentioned above.
3) Do not start any executables on laptop drive, just copy all data to a safe place.
4) Put harddrive back in laptop.
5) Use recovery disks to reinstall the laptop.

That is - after reading some of your thread - the only solution left.

shamrin
join:2001-01-08
Lexington, KY

shamrin to fonzbear2000

Member

to fonzbear2000
Try this website, it's arcane, but it worked for me:

»tinyempire.com/notes/ntl ··· sing.htm

fonzbear2000
Premium Member
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN
·Verizon Wireless

fonzbear2000

Premium Member

said by shamrin:

Try this website, it's arcane, but it worked for me:

»tinyempire.com/notes/ntl ··· sing.htm
Been there, tried all that and no luck. Looks like I'll have to take Maartena's advice.
rgoltsch
Premium Member
join:2001-03-04
Bradenton, FL

rgoltsch to sheilakmcd

Premium Member

to sheilakmcd
I'd go a step further. Your computer has been down for 3+ weeks. You have spent countless hours trying to revive a hard drive that may be down for the count.

I have worked on too many systems to count. I have revivied systems that were further gone than yours, but sometimes the repaired computer just isn't right when your done. It'll freeze, reboot, or just work very slowly after the repairs. Sometimes it is just bet to call a time of death and go on.

Without actually seeing your computer, and even if I did, I could not confirm that your hard drive isn't suffereing from a simple mechanical breakdown. It is time to bite the bullet and replace it. Laptops amd their hard drives have the toughest life. They are bounced around on our shoulders, left in the car during the winter, left in the trunk in the summer, are exposed to environments we would never bring our desktops. Perhaps something just damaged that sensitive device called the hard drive.

At this point, hard drives for laptops are below $100, even for a good size one. I just did a quick search and found a 320GB drive for $74.99 and free shipping »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 22136197 Something tells me that this new one will be much greater in size than what you have now. And with the purchase of a new drive, you'll have the good feeling that comes with knowing you have a shiny new part that should last a while in your laptop.

Take your old drive out of your computer, and get the new one installed. Install windows and your applications from your recovery disks. Don't bother installing programs you no longer use. They just take up space. Install all the updates, including the latest Service Packs for XP up to SP3. Try and close all the holes in your system before you recover your data. Install a good AV. Look around on this site for recommendations on AV and spyware protection. Install it and update it.

Recover my data? How am I going to do that?

I'm glad you asked. When you buy that hard drive, purchase an inexpensive Hard drive enclosure for the old drive. I found one for around $12.00 »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 17816002

Now, after your new and improved system is up and running, let's connect the old drive and recover your data. Your pics, docs and all your other files will be there. If you had some specific settings on your computer that you just have to have back, they are there on your computer, stored in the registry. You will need specialized help with any specific setting on different programs, but it can be done.

After you are done, your computer will be good as new, and won't be bogged down with old junk you didn't bother to re-install since you aren't going to install things you no longer use. It will be quicker than you remember.

I know this isn't what you asked for in the original post, but there comes a time when you need to look at how much effort is being expended to simply repair what can easily be replaced.

Good luck,
Ron
Expand your moderator at work
lcordero7
join:2006-02-20
Bronx, NY

lcordero7 to fonzbear2000

Member

to fonzbear2000

Re: [XPHome] NTLDR file missing

try using the NTLDR from service pack 2.

You can download service pack 2 from here:

»www.microsoft.com/downlo ··· ylang=en

rename WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe to XPSP2.exe

Then open a command prompt, go to the folder where you have XPSP2.exe, type in XPSP2.exe /x:c:\(folder where you want to put all of these files)

This will extract an i386 folder and you can get NTLDR from inside the folder.

Mickeyme3
You might be right, but, I don't care
Premium Member
join:2008-09-05
Carson City, NV

Mickeyme3 to fonzbear2000

Premium Member

to fonzbear2000
I doubt the hard drive is dieing/dead I had this problem 4 times with this hard drive I have and it's 2 years since last time it happened.
What causes it? I don't know.
I did have to format the drive a few times one time.
Repair install only takes you from this error to the HAL.DLL error.
Maybe a cure may be if you can get into SafeMode go to Control Panel - System - Advanced - Startup & Recovery - Edit - make sure there is only 1 OP listed.





fonzbear2000
Premium Member
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN

fonzbear2000

Premium Member

I can't get into Windows at all. Not even safe mode.

Mickeyme3
You might be right, but, I don't care
Premium Member
join:2008-09-05
Carson City, NV

1 edit

Mickeyme3 to fonzbear2000

Premium Member

to fonzbear2000
Did you try reformatting?
If your hard drive was dead you wouldn't get any message!

fonzbear2000
Premium Member
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN
·Verizon Wireless

1 edit

fonzbear2000

Premium Member

said by Mickeyme3:

Did you try reformatting?
If your hard drive was dead you wouldn't get any message!
I plan to do that. First I'm going to get a cable that will let me plug the HD into another computer via USB so hopefully I can save some files and because it's a laptop, I need a converter cable for the HD.

Mickeyme3
You might be right, but, I don't care
Premium Member
join:2008-09-05
Carson City, NV

1 edit

Mickeyme3 to fonzbear2000

Premium Member

to fonzbear2000
Good luck!

Be careful of what you save, you don't want to chance on saving the virus/spyware!